Chimney cleaner



Nov. 25, 1924. A. H. BERGERSON CHIMNEY CLEANER Filed April 9, 1924 INVENTOR.

Arranwx a or 6 inches.

Patented Nov. 25, 1924.

AXEL H. BERGERSON, OF RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN.

CHIMNEY Application filed Aprii 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AXEL H. BERGERSON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at River Falls, in the county of Pierce and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chimney Cleaners, of which the following is. a specification.

My invention relates to chimney cleaning devices and the object is to provide a simple and etlicient device readily installed in any chimney and the use of which cleans the entire length of the inner walls of a chimney simultaneously and quickly with a few vertical movements of the device.

in the accompanying drawing:.

Fig. 1 is a partly sectional elevation of a. chimney with my device in operative position therein.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top view of device and surrounding portions of a chimney.

Fig. is an enlarged vertical elevation showing in detail a corner portion of my device about as between lines aa in Fig. 1 and showing the action of the device when moving over obstructions in the chimney.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals 5 designates a chimney the line 6 of which is square as in Fig. 2 although my device is adaptable to other forms of fiues. T is the usual clean-out opening at the base of the chimney and the latter may be built up from the basement floor or foundation 8 as shown. Some chimneys are built up from a ledge or shelf starting at a point above the floor but in all cases there is an opening 7 near the base of the chimney which makes the lower end of my device accessible for cleaning purposes.

My device comprises a series of vertically disposed chains, comprising links 9, preferably four in number said chains held in spaced relation by horizontally arranged and connected bars 10 arranged in quadrangular form. Each set of bars 10 are connected in corresponding, vertically disposed loops 11 and the vertical links 9 have eyelets 12 at both ends and each engaging in a loop 11. The links 9 are of such length as may be required for proper vertical spacing of the bars 10, preferably about 5 Bars 10 are oiiiset outwardly adjacent their loops 11, as at 13, and the offset portion thus comprising almost the entire length of each bar comprises the cleaning means of my device, the device CLEANER.

1924. Serial No. 705,367.

being so designed that said bars are spaced in quadrangular arrangement to a size slightly smaller than the chimney line. The uppermost bars 10 (see Figs. 1 and 2) are connected by a spider 14 comprising two crossed bars each connecting the diagonally opposite pair of loops 11 which are engaged by loops 15. Adjacent the crossing of said bars they are ofiset upwardly as at 1 1 and 14" (in Figs. 1 and 2) forming a pocket16 adapted to receive the upper end of a helical, compression coil spring 17 held in vertical position by an inverted U-shaped yoke 18 retained within the spring and engaging the lower end of the latter with its outwardly bent lower ends 18. Said yoke extends above the spider 14+. and hangs on a bar 19 of any suitable bar stock and resting on the top of the chimney with its opposite ends.

The lowest bars 10 of the cleaning device are normally located about 8 or 10inches above the base 8 and are connected by a spider 20 with a loop 21 formed at the convergence of its arms. This loop may be engaged by one end of a bar 22 (as in Fig. 1) the other end of which may rest on base 8 outside of the chimney. Downward pressure is exerted either by hand or foot about as at 23 causing the bar to pull the entire length of chain and bars to move downwardly and all soot etc. is cleared oil of the adjacent walls, falling down to the cleanout opening from where it can be readily removed. The downward pressure on bar 22 will cause the spring to be compressed and when said pressure is released the spring will cause the device to move upward to original position. A few such reciprocating movements of the device will suffice to clean the chimney. If one or more of the cleaning bars 10 should strike any obstruction, such as a piece of protrudin mortar as 24 in Fig. 3, the bars affects will merely tilt as shown in dotted lines and ride over the obstruction, there being ample play in the connected loops 11 and 12 to allow for any such temporary misalincment of parts.

It will be readily understood that the cleaner bars 10 are spaced apart vertically close enough so that their sweeping movements overlap, that is, each set of cleaner bars will pass the position previously occupied by the next higher or lower set of bars. This is accomplished by making the links 9shorter than the reciprocating movement oft-he device.

The operation of my device has been fully disclosed in the above specification. It might be added, however, that my device is preferably made of a good quality of wire; There is no hindrance todraft since the device is almost entirely so "close to the inner walls thatit takes up much less room than the; soot which usually clings to said walls under average conditions, but with this device installed in a chimney the latter is kept continually clean with little efiort.

What I claim is:

1; In a chimney cleaner, a plurality of vertically disposed chains with horizontally registering links, horizontally arranged bars interposed between adjacent ends of said links and adapted to engage the surfaces of the chimney flue, means for suspending. the cleaner in the top end of a chimney, said cl'eaner'terminating. adjacent an opening in thelower portion of the chimney and means adapted to be inserted in'said opening to engage thelower end of the cleaner to reciprocate it within the flue.

2; The structure specified in claim 1, in which saidl'inks and bar members are made of wire and each looped at both ends to loosely" engage the loops or adjacent members at their points of convergence to hold the horizontally adjacent bar members in quadrangular formation and the link members in spaced-relation one at each corner of saidquad'rangleh V The structure specified in claim 1, in which said'links' andbar members aremade ofwire and eachlooped at both ends to loosely engage" the" loops of adjacent ,members at their points of convergence to hold the horizontally adjacent'bar members in quadrangular formation and the link memtending downwardly therefrom, abar' rest ing on the top of the chimney and extending across itsflue, a U-shaped-yoke hung on said bar and extending downwardly through and belowthe spider and within-the spring and engaging the lowerenctofthe spring.

5. The structure specified. i-ircl'aiin 1, in which said means for engaging the lower end of the cleaner com-pr'isesa spidr'anconnecting the lowest link and bar members, a

' downwardly extending loop formed integral with said" spider, a bar adapted to be inserted'with one end in said loop; and= bemoved downward manually to pull the entire cleaner downwardly against the resistance v of the coil spring, for-the purpose described,

In testimony whereof 'Iaffix my signature Amen BERGERSO-Ni 

